This invention relates to a method and apparatus for separating the roving wound on packages from the flyers of a roving frame or the like, and for securing the roving end to the packages before doffing.
After winding the roving onto packages in a roving frame and before removing the packages from the frame, the roving is normally broken in the section between each package and the relative flyer following lowering of the package carriage, the roving end then being secured to the respective package by the operator to prevent it unwinding during the subsequent package doffing and transportation.
The halting of the roving for this purpose logically requires time, during which the frame has to remain at rest, this continuing until this operation has been carried out on all the packages, and hence for a relatively lengthy time.
The operation itself is rather uncomfortable for the operator, who has to kneel to first locate the free end of the roving and then arrange it so that it does not unwind. The need to reduce the operating time on each package as much as possible for economic reasons carries the risk that the work is not always properly carried out and that the badly secured roving end of some packages may subsequently become released and lead to the unwinding of part of the roving, so prejudicing correct package feed to the next process.
Devices are known which after the packages have been removed from the roving frame retain the roving end in contact with the winding to prevent its unwinding. These devices are however only provided along, and are only effective along, the package transport chain downstream of the roving frame and are therefore not able to prevent accidental unwinding of the roving between the frame and the commencement of the transport chain. In addition they do not eliminate the cost and unproductive time deriving from the human intervention in securing the roving to the packages on the frame. To prevent possible unwinding of the roving during that part of the package travel between the frame and the overhead conveyor, it has also been proposed to rotate the packages in the direction of winding of the roving against a stationary surface during their transport. Again, this does not totally eliminate the possibility of roving unwinding and in addition the means proposed to prevent this unwinding are rather complicated and unwieldy, so that the advantage of their use is relative.
To solve the said problems, European Patent Appln. Public. No. 0 467 475 has recently proposed a method and apparatus in which when the winding of the roving on the packages is complete, the packages at rest on the package support carriage are lowered until the upper end of the relative tubes reaches the height of the compressor of the respective flyers, after which the packages are rotated in order to wind a few turns of the roving under tension onto the upper end part of the tubes. The package support carriage is then further lowered to the doffing position, this producing breakage of the roving in that section between the upper end of the tubes and the relative flyers.
To more reliably secure the roving turns onto the upper end of the relative tubes, an annular recess or a roughened portion is provided on the upper end of the tubes in order to increase friction and hence the stability of the turns against accidental unwinding.
This method and the relative apparatus have the substantial advantage of achieving completely automatic operation on all the frame spindles in fixing the roving end before doffing, with a considerable time and cost saving.